SAN DIEGO — It took the Padres 87 games to get their first sweep in the United States (they swept the Giants in Mexico City in early May), and it came against the Los Angeles Angels after a 5-3 victory.
This was their first sweep at Petco Park since June 22, 2022, against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
They were overdue.
“Feels good to win,” third baseman Manny Machado said. “I think just taking it day by day playing good baseball, like we have been this whole week and continue doing that.”
The Padres scored early after Angels pitcher Patrick Sandoval had bases loaded and saw Juan Soto trying to lead off second, so he threw it there, but a bad throw brought in Fernando Tatis Jr. to kick things off at 1-0.
Los Angeles answered quickly at the top of the second inning when Luis Rengifo hit a single toward Tatis Jr., but he bobbled the ball bringing in Hunter Renfroe to tie things up.
An error by each team had things at 1-1.
The Angels got their first lead of the series when Jo Adell hit a double at the top of the third, bringing in San Diego kid Mickey Moniak to put them up 2-1.
Manny Machado tied things up at the bottom of the third when he brought Ha-Seong Kim home.
Fast forward to the bottom of the sixth when Machado hits a 401-foot home run that got the crowd pumped up and broke a record. Machado is now the leader of home runs hit at Petco Park (66), passing Adrian Gonzalez.
“It’s great,” Machado said. “It’s a big accomplishment and something that’s going to be in the books forever. Obviously, it’s an honor to be up there.”
Angels catcher Matt Thaiss would answer on the first pitch thrown by Nick Martinez. He sends one a 424-foot trip to tie things up at 3-3.
Bottom of the seventh, Xander Bogaerts was having a rough night going 0-4, despite blasting home runs on each of the last two games. Until he brought in the game-winning run after grounding out, and the pitcher tagged him out at first instead of throwing Tatis Jr. out at home.
Machado was walked with bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, which brought Kim home, and improved their lead to 5-3.
It was a mystery if closer Josh Hader would pitch after playing the last two games. He made an appearance in the ninth inning to record his 20th save of the season.
“He’s got a sense where we are as a team, so he wanted the ball tonight in a save situation. He got it and pretty efficient, too,” Padres Manager Bob Melvin said.
This was a strong series all around for the Padres. They got the sweep, scored 23 runs, and played good defense.
How good? Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-10 against the Padres pitchers after coming in white hot.
When asked about their performance against Ohtani, Melvin put his hands together, simulating a prayer.
“If you’re going to win a series,” Melvin explained. “You’re going to sweep a series against them. You’re probably going to have to get him out, him out a bunch.”
The Padres now sit at 41-46 and have a big three-game series against the New York Mets starting Friday. They are similar to the Padres. They have been underperforming and are looking to get on a winning streak themselves.
“They’re a good ball club, and they’re trying to try to make it somewhere like us,” Machado said. “So I’m just gonna go out there and take care of our business and go out there and try to play the best baseball we possibly can every single day.”
